As I write this Yeovil Independents have just gained another seat on Yeovil Town Council.
It would appear that they feel the LibDem majority on the Town Council creates closed shop politics and is not good for the town – paraphrasing .
From my point of view this is not quite correct (cue, you would say that wouldn’t you).
In reality what we, as a council are actually achieving is the best for the people of Yeovil that we can. Yes our share of the Council Tax went up, not because we could, but because that was what was needed to achieve what we perceive to be the best for the people of Yeovil in the face of Unitary cuts (discussion regarding why and how that has come about and National politics is for another discussion at another time). If petitions and local opinion are taken into account, what the people of Yeovil want is for facilities and services to be saved and where we can that is what we are doing (there will be exceptions, things that are just not achievable).
In the face of that reality, hard decisions choices do need to be made. Isn’t that the choices we are elected to make? Not as LibDems, but as representatives of our electorate? Do you walk away and let things fall apart, no future plan, no facilities, a residential town with nothing but houses and supermarkets, or do you do what you can to keep facilities, services and generally make the town a better place? Yes there will be some things that are a step too far, but as I have said, those are the hard decisions we have to make and we have to leave some of those at the door of the Unitary authority.
Is to do so a LibDem (Liberal) monopoly, or is it a liberal thing to do for the people we represent? I would argue the latter…
Should we be challenged and questioned on the decisions made? Well yes, of course it’s not a dictatorship, this is public money and we should be accountable for spending it wisely. Though I urge all that do question the decisions, to keep in mind that we do not take them lightly, we do not take decisions for our own gain, or kudos, we make the decisions we do as, in our opinion, they are the best for the people of Yeovil that we can achieve… and that is liberal as well as Liberal (LibDem).
As LibDems we are making this happen!!!
Rob's View (from the sidelines) 